Today we’d like to introduce you to Honey Hargrave.
Hi Honey, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started Honey’s Eden for myself and my friends during the early days of the pandemic when everything felt distant and uncertain and we were all craving intimacy, care, and belonging. It began as a series of dinners in my home and then hyper-curated picnics outdoors — beautiful, intimate, slightly surreal gatherings — designed to invite people into a different kind of experience. Not just hanging out, but being with each other in a way that felt generous, curious, and nourishing.
Over time, those gatherings moved from parks and borrowed spaces to a more rooted installation. In November 2022, I got access to a small studio at the Museum of Human Achievement in East Austin. It was a plain white box at first — cold, echoey, and far from the magical, transportive space I envisioned. I spent the next year slowly transforming it into what it is now: a vibey late-night lounge that feels like stepping through a portal into a softer, more abundant world. Every single detail — the rugs, lamps, glassware, tea selection, textiles — was chosen with the intention to transport attendees to another world.
I’m now in my second season of hosting in the space. Every week, I hold late-night tea gatherings with blends made from herbs, roots, berries, and spices. People trickle in, take their shoes off, and settle into cozy corners to drink tea and witness art or join in salon-style conversations about things like portals, love, alternate economies, and the tension between fear and desire. Sometimes people bring snacks or read aloud from something they’re loving. It’s casual, but there’s a kind of reverence in the space that inspires camaraderie and reflection.
For me, Honey’s Eden has always been about creating a space that lives outside of the usual transactional modes — a kind of living room for artists, dreamers, queers, thinkers, and people who crave a more connected, generous way of being. I built it because I needed it and it’s been so beautiful to witness how other’s needed it too.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been a herculean effort, not only in erecting and maintaining a physical space that exists outside of traditional business models (decentering profit-making has always been a guiding principle and I did not take out loans or take residence in a traditional commercial property) but also in terms of the personal growth needed from me in order to become someone who could ask for and gracefully receive support from my community and who could withstand the vulnerability and energetic tax of hosting an experimental social gathering every week. I struggled a lot the first season with vulnerability hangovers and burnout. It’s been a learning process to figure out how to sustain presence with my community, and I’m still figuring it out.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I work a day job as a graphic designer on a marketing team, but I consider my real work to be curating spaces and experiences that forge authentic community. I specialize in designing intimate, whimsical spaces that engage the senses and ignite curiosity—I consider this to be world-building. I’m most proud of my impact creating friendships in Austin. I love when people exchange info at the end of a night at Honey’s Eden and go on to be “real life” friends outside of my weekly gathering. I’ve been hosting long enough now that I have a vast web of people I’ve met exclusively through Honey’s Eden who I run into around town and who I regularly collaborate with, and who regularly collaborate with each other. There are other organizations and projects with similar community-building missions but what sets Honey’s Eden apart from them is, I hope, a real intimacy and total embracing of each person’s authentic personhood. I think the aesthetic/vibe of the space is also pretty differentiated.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
My advice for networking is skipping the networking events and just focus on building friendships with people who you genuinely like, respect, and relate with. Having friends who do cool things opens up a bustling calendar of fun events and gatherings to attend, where you’ll meet even more cool people who you authentically connect with, and the more the world gets to know you as a trusted friend and social participant, the more opportunities will flow your way without having to dig for them. I’ll add that I believe the key to abundance in opportunity is being generous when others ask you for help or guidance. I don’t believe in charging for every ounce of our time and energy—that’s tired capitalist programming. Help your friends with love in your heart and they’ll help you.
Pricing:
- $11 to attend a late night tea evening at Honey’s Eden
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honeys.eden/
- Other: https://honeyhargrave.com/honeys-eden
Image Credits
@honeysmanifesto
@juniperusashei
@bobbysheidemann
